After abruptly canceling interviews with Chris Wallace and Don Lemon last week, Tara Reade suddenly decided to do a lengthy interview with Megyn Kelly. But if you were expecting Kelly to provide the kind of scrutiny she gave the black stripper who accused the white Duke lacrosse players of rape, you will be sorely disappointed.
To be sure, the Duke lacrosse rape allegations fell apart. But Reade’s story – that Biden pushed his hand down her skirt and then digitally penetrated her in a Senate hallway, in the middle of the day, should be enough to rouse the skeptic in anyone. Add to that the fact that Reade says her official complaint about her treatment while she worked for Biden did not allege sexual assault or harassment. Plus there are other questions and inconsistencies. Heck, even Tucker Carlson is publicly skeptical.
Yet, Kelly, who liked to call herself a “straight news” anchor who “give[s] a hard time to both sides” when she was at Fox News either has a very warped sense of what a “hard time” is or she was never what she claimed to be in the first place. You probably know where I fall.
Kelly teased the interview on Thursday with the release of two clips. Then she released the full interview late Friday, which seems an odd time to drop a big-get interview.
I wrote up what the clips portended (a Kelly audition tape) for Crooks and Liars yesterday and a detailed analysis of the 42-minute interview with Reade today.
It’s frankly offensive to see people trying to use the very real issue of sexual assault as a political cudgel, and it’s beyond strange to see angry Left Wingers collaborating with angry Right Wingers to do it.
Anybody got smelling salts? I’m feeling a bit faint.
1) She’s provided several versions (never a good thing as any three-year old will tell you) and the increase in seriousness suggests (to me) that she wasn’t getting the reaction she needed.
2) On her latest version I can’t help wondering what she was wearing in terms of leg wear. Women in jobs where appearance is important had/have to look their best from head to toe. When panty hose replaced “nylons” held up by a garter belt, we young ladies used to joke that they were second best only to a tight pair of high-waisted jeans as a chastity belt. During the early ‘90s, Tara would have been wearing panty hose and the ending of her story doesn’t sound right (to me).
3) Why take the chance of assaulting a woman in a hallway, of all places? Far less risky to wait til you’re alone in the office.
4) So far, no other women seem to have popped out to say “me too” suggesting that Joe wasn’t a serious serial molester, let alone one who gets a shiver from sex in public places.
I have no problem accepting that women may wait decades before denouncing sexual harassment of any kind but I do wonder about Tara’s story … uh, stories.
Tara pulls a Trump and spends a lot of time blaming the press for her odd timing of coming forward and why her story is inconsistent. What struck me in the interview comes about 23 minutes in. She claims she first changed her story because her hometown newspaper, The Union, made her uncomfortable asking “It wasn’t sexual was it?” Now read the other side. A reporter’s experience dealing with Tara and see if you don’t agree with me something’s off:
“The agonizing story of Tara Reade”
https://www.vox.com/2020/5/7/21248713/tara-reade-joe-biden-sexual-assault-accusation
Ditto compare the above article to Tara blaming the media for not returning her phone calls. I just get the impression Tara is reporter shopping. Trying to get the sympathetic ear. Like Trump, she keeps saying she wants to tell “her story” but clearly is resentful of reporters trying to get any truth beyond that. Maybe it’s understandable but my suspicions don’t end there.
As Ellen mentions she later cancelled interviews. At the time I heard her claim she did it over threats to her family. Very credible. I hear she even filed a police report. Making it even more credible. But then quickly interview with Kelly? Was Tara in negotiations with Megyn at that time? Notice Megyn says nothing.
I did like Kelly bringing up her ace investigative producer found one of Tara’s friend’s stories matched what she’s telling Kelly now. Really? It’s common knowledge her brother and other friends have changed their stories to match Tara’s. Mr. Ace Reporter could have found that out Googling. It’s abundantly clear why Megyn with her washed up career snagged this softball gig when reporters with real jobs couldn’t.
Tara’s a person you want to believe because of #MeToo. On the surface she looks credible. But her apparent lies here about the press smack me in the face. I won’t even get into other problems with her story. You can read that elsewhere. Liberal Slate wrote a very fair piece on Tara’s story where they, too, desperately wanted to believe her but struggled mightily.
